The Kremlin ruled out a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky before achieving major progress on a peace deal, raising doubt on ending the war before President Trump’s proposed 50-day deadline.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said peace proposals drafted by both sides are “diametrically opposed.” When asked if a meeting between the two leaders would take place before the end of August, Peskov said reconciliation would require “extremely complex diplomatic work” that cannot be carried out overnight, according to Russian state media. 

Peskov further said that any meeting held between Putin and Zelensky should only come at the final stages of peace negotiations and that it is “unlikely” to take place within a month, according to remarks reported by The Washington Post.

The Kremlin’s remarks follow a third-round of negotiations between Ukrainian and Russian officials in Turkey, where there was agreement on a further exchange of prisoners of war and also civilians, but no ceasefire was reached.

Trump has called for an immediate ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, which Kyiv has accepted but Moscow has rejected. The president, who said he made “no progress” in his latest calls with Putin, issued a 50-day deadline for the embattled nations to come to an agreement. If Russia refused or failed to show good faith, he added, the nation would face “severe” penalties, including sanctions on allies who buy goods from Russia.

The Republican-controlled Senate pulled back on bringing a bipartisan sanctions bill to the floor earlier this month in light of Trump’s ultimatum, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) saying he wanted to give the president space to act unilaterally.

While Trump’s increasingly vocal frustration with Putin’s refusal to stop the war is welcome to Ukraine’s supporters, the 50-day timeline seemingly gives Russia more time to attack the country and wear down Kyiv’s depleting defenses and morale.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said it continues to assess that Russia remains committed to delaying the negotiation process to continue to make gains on the battlefield and extract concessions from Ukraine and the West.

Trump earlier this month revoked a decision by the Pentagon to halt some weapons shipments to Ukraine, despite the president’s previous criticism of providing military support. He has also pursued deals with NATO and other European countries to purchase U.S. weapons to deliver to Kyiv.

The Trump administration is also greenlighting Ukrainian purchases of U.S. military equipment.